Part of the trouble is that lawmakers are facing a policy challenge of a near-Herculean scale: building out an entire industry from scratch, when China already has a decadeslong lead. Mountain Pass in California, the United States’ only rare-earth mine, doesn’t have the heavy rare earths required for military purposes and currently ships nearly all of its output to China. But it’s now attempting to carve out a bigger stake in the global industry, with plans to build out separating and processing capabilities backed by a $35 million Biden administration package. QUOTE Interesting point regarding the heavy rare earths required for military purposes , ARR may have a big advantage in this area in the future IMO
